They all shared a big bedroom near the cheese room

They all shared a big bedroom near the cheese room ‘Oh yes， I'm sure it's true，’said the man behind the brown health cow．Tess could not see his face，and could not understand why the head－dairyman himself should call him sir．The man stayed under the cow long enough to milk three，at times saying something angrily to himself．Then he stood up， stretching his arms．Tess could now see him clearly． He wore the clothes of a dairyman but underneath he was quite different．He looked educated and gentlemanly．

But now she realized that she had seen him before． He was one of the three walking brothers who had stopped their walk to admire the May－Day dance in Marlott a few years before． He had danced with some of the other girls but not with her． He had not noticed her and had gone on his way． For a moment she was worried that if he recognized her he might discover her story． But she soon saw he did not remember her at all． Since she had seen him in Marlott，his face had grown more thoughtful． He now had a young man's moustache and beard． From the time he had spent milking one cow，he was clearly a beginner at dairy work．

Tess discovered that only two or three of the dairymaids slept in the house，besides herself．They all shared a big bedroom near the cheese room． That night one of the girls insisted on telling health Tess about all the people at the dairy． To Tess，half asleep， the whispers seemed to be floating in the air．